Paul Manafort Sprung From Prison Early Due to Coronavirus Concerns

Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort was released from prison early on Wednesday due to coronavirus concerns, his attorney Kevin Downing told CNN.

The 71-year-old, jailed since June 2018, will serve the rest of his seven and a half year sentence in home confinement, Downing said. Manafort, who oversaw Trump’s presidential campaign for roughly three months in the summer of 2016, was convicted last year in two separate cases centered on tax and bank fraud. Downing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Manafort had already served about a third of his sentence at LCI Loretto, a low-security federal prison in western Pennsylvania, when his attorneys requested a transfer to home confinement due to concerns about the pandemic potential effect on Manafort’s health issues. He will move into a three-bedroom apartment in Northern Virginia where he will live with his wife.

The federal Bureau of Prisons has moved nearly 2,500 to home confinement in response to the pandemic and the difficulty of maintaining social distancing, CNN reported, though LCI Loretto has no confirmed cases as of this week.

Michael Avenatti, the lawyer who represented porn star Stormy Daniels in her litigation against President Trump, also was granted temporary home confinement as he awaiting sentencing in New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center. In February, he was convicted of attempting to extort up to $25 million from Nike.

12 Music Stars Who Slammed Trump for Using Their Songs at Campaign Rallies (Photos)

Axl Rose

After Guns N' Roses frontman learned that "Sweet Child O' Mine" was being played at the president's rallies, Rose fired off a series of tweets accusing Trump of using licensing loopholes to ignore his request to stop playing the band's music. "Unfortunately the Trump campaign is using loopholes in the various venues’ blanket performance licenses which were not intended for such craven political purposes, without the songwriters’ consent," Rose tweeted on Nov. 4, 2018.

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Pharrell

On Oct. 27, 2018, the day after the synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh that left 11 dead, Trump played Pharrell's 2013 summer hit "Happy" at a rally in Indiana, according to reports. Pharell's attorney Howard King sent a cease and desist to Trump with a statement regarding the usage. "There was nothing 'happy' about the tragedy inflicted upon our country on Saturday and no permission was granted for your use of this song for this purpose," the letter read.

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Neil Young

If you go way back to when Trump first announced he would be running for president at the Trump Tower in 2015, you may remember that Neil Young took issue with Trump's use of "Rockin' in the Free World." "Donald Trump was not authorized to use 'Rockin' in the Free World’ in his presidential candidacy announcement," a spokesperson for the musician's Lookout Management said in a statement in 2015. Young recently reiterated his feelings on his official Facebook page: "Legally, he has the right to, however it goes against my wishes."

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Prince's estate

According to Rolling Stone, Prince's estate had to issue a statement after various Trump rallies played "Purple Rain." "The Prince Estate has never given permission to President Trump or The White House to use Prince's songs and have requested that they cease all use immediately," Prince's half-brother Omarr Baker wrote on Twitter Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018.

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Adele

Trump didn't stop at the rock genre when choosing his campaign playlists. After it got around that his rallies included songs like "Rolling in the Deep" and "Skyfall," a spokesperson for singer Adele made clear she wanted no part of it. "Adele has not given permission for her music to be used for any political campaigning," her spokesman told The Guardian at the time.

The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones have tried to stop Trump from playing the band's music on several occasions, including after Trump accepted the bid to be the Republican Party's nominee in 2016 to the tune of "Start Me Up." "The Rolling Stones have never given permission to the Trump campaign to use their songs and have requested that they cease all use immediately," a Stones spokesperson said in a statement to The Daily Beast.

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R.E.M.

At a Trump rally in Washington D.C. Sept. 2015, R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World" played while Trump walked up the podium. Word of the band's song playing at the rally prompted the band's official Facebook page to release a statement: "While we do not authorize or condone the use of our music at this political event, and do ask that these candidates cease and desist from doing so, let us remember that there are things of greater importance at stake here. The media and the American voter should focus on the bigger picture, and not allow grandstanding politicians to distract us from the pressing issues of the day and of the current Presidential campaign."

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Elton John

According to CNN, Elton John was among the major names the Trump administration reached out to to perform at his inauguration. John's team declined. But even before then, John's team publicly denounced any use of his songs for Trump's benefit. "Elton's music has not been requested for use in any official capacity by Donald Trump. Any use of his music should not be seen as an endorsement of Donald Trump by Elton," John's publicist said, according to the British newspaper The Telegraph.

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Steven Tyler

In 2015, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler's reps sent a demand to Trump's team to stop playing "Dream On" at his rallies, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Unlike other similar demands, Trump publicly announced he would stop. "Even though I have the legal right to use Steven Tyler's song, he asked me not to," Trump tweeted. "Have better one to take its place!"

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Queen

The anthemic "We Are the Champions" played while Trump walked up to the stage during the Republican National Convention in July 2016. Queen member Brian May released a personal statement regarding the usage: "Regardless of our views on Mr. Trump's platform, it has always been against our policy to allow Queen music to be used as a political campaigning tool. Our music embodies our own dreams and beliefs, but it is for all who care to listen and enjoy."

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The O'Jays

O'Jays lead vocalist Eddie Levert spoke out in 2016 about the use of "Love Train" during Trump's presidential rallies. "I wish him the best, but I don't think he's the man to run our country. So when he started using 'Love Train,' I called him up and told them, 'Listen, man, I don't believe in what you're doing. I'm not with you. I don't want you to use my voice. I'm not condoning what you're doing," Levert told Billboard.

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Rihanna

Over the weekend of Nov. 3, 2018, Washington Post bureau chief Philip Rucker tweeted that Rihanna's 2007 hit "Don't Stop the Music" was playing during one of Trump's Tennessee rallies. Rihanna herself responded to the tweet, saying: "Not for much longer... me nor my people would ever be at or around one of those tragic rallies, so thanks for the heads up philip!"

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From Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose to pop star Rihanna

Axl Rose

After Guns N' Roses frontman learned that "Sweet Child O' Mine" was being played at the president's rallies, Rose fired off a series of tweets accusing Trump of using licensing loopholes to ignore his request to stop playing the band's music. "Unfortunately the Trump campaign is using loopholes in the various venues’ blanket performance licenses which were not intended for such craven political purposes, without the songwriters’ consent," Rose tweeted on Nov. 4, 2018.